In this contribution we challenge teacher education from four angles
that develop around a common core: the advocacy of linguistic diversity
and plurality in school settings. Educational systems follow an
exclusive structure which both evokes and is further strengthened by
deficient perspectives. In order to challenge these perspectives, we
raise questions related to a. the awareness of multilingual actors in a
school context, b. the aknowledgement of multilingual parental
engagement, c. the inclusion of super-diversified linguistic and
cultural backgrounds, and d. the explicit incorporation of sign
languages as languages in their own right.
With respect to a., we draw on the pedagogical practice of Linguistic
Risk-Taking, which originally aims to encourage language learners to use
their target language in authentic situations outside the classroom
(Slavkov & Séror 2019; Cajka 2021). However, we believe that
this practice is also relevant to raise teachers' awareness in relation
to multilinguals in school contexts. Its focal point concerns the
interplay of two forces related to target language use: a degree of risk
including related emotions versus feelings of achievement of overcoming
the challenge (see also Griffiths & Slavkov 2021; Slavkov & Séror 2019).
We argue that realizing and acknowledging these aspects to be part of
language use situations in schools helps teachers to challenge their
perspectives on multilingualism and linguistic diversity.
Challenging perspectives on multilingualism in the scope of teacher
education is also crucial when it comes to parental engagement (b.).
Particularly in non-comprehensive educational systems, parental
engagement is pointed out as indispensable to support pupils' good
performance in school (Schnell 2015). However, in super-diverse
settings, this can pose a challenge to multilingual parents due to
prevailing structures of power and dominant ideologies in the school
space (e.g. Turney & Kao 2009). In this context, teachers are important
social actors that can empower or restrain multilingual parents in their
willingness to engage in their children's learning and identity
construction.
With respect to c., the question we ask is how super-diversified
linguistic and cultural backgrounds can find their ways into educational
systems. We will go beyond language awareness and focus on the role of
language/s for learning (Hudson 2021). Starting out from the concepts of
translanguaging and transknowledging (Heugh et al. 2019), existing
didactic approaches will be questioned. Moreover, we will highlight the
importance of teacher education in the background of diverse teachers'
educational experiences.
D. highlights the relevance of acknowledging sign languages as an
integral part of linguistic diversity. As schools are a particularly
important space to learn and use sign language (considering the context
of sign language being a minority language on a societal level), sign
language and its role in linguistic diversity are integral topics also
for teacher education. Changing teachers' perspectives regarding sign
languages is likely to enhance their agency for creating inclusive
learning environments.
From these points of view, coming from the periphery of scholarly
thinking, we engage in practice-focused approaches that come together in
their goal to contribute to more just and cohesive teaching and learning
environments.
